Three categories of “deeds” in the Collection
and what can we learn from them

Our “Native American Deeds (NA Deeds)”
fall into three categories of documents: (1) first generation deeds
(before 1650) and (2) second generation deeds (between 1650 - 1701)
and (3) other related Native American documents recorded in the
“Salem, Ipswich, Norfolk Deeds” (Record Books). See
Outline

The first generation deeds
were generally “conveyances” and were drafted before
1650 and were between the settlers and the chiefs of the Native
American tribes. “A conveyance to an Englishman necessarily
implied its removal from the domain governed by the tribes chief
sachem. For such a transaction to be legitimate in the Native American
Indians eyes, it had to be approved by the Grand Sachem.

The proper procedure, therefore, was for the English to purchase
land from free Indians, only to be made with consent from their
Grand Sachem, and the compensation being given to that particular
Indian who claimed personal tenure (Jennings p137)”(1). The
earliest deeds seem to be consistent and they illustrate willingness
for peaceful coexistence, as settlers sought to establish new parishes
and to “improve” more agricultural lands “out
in the country”. Note, that while the English considered the
Sachem as a “King” of the tribe, such transactions could
only occur after gaining consent of the “his subjects”.
For convenience of the English, six square miles was a typical size
of a new parish or town and the geometry often referenced in early
deeds.

The Native American Indians “seemed”
willing to sell some of their functionally surplus lands, but the
English were anxious to acquire all of the lands already cleared
by the Native American Indians. The bounds of the land titles recorded
before 1650 were typically described “topographically”
in the following “Native geography” terms: starting
at a known landmark (river or ocean) going Northerly “x”
miles to another landmark, then Easterly or Westerly so many miles,
then Southerly so many miles, then again Westerly or Easterly returning
to the original natural landmark. Any deed not signed by a major
Sachem had to be with the consent of the chief Sachem (Sagamore)
as noted in the Haverhill Deed.

To imply consent and understanding by
parties on both sides, the deeds appear to use Native Place names.
For the Native Americans, they initially understood what was “said”
more than what was “recorded” in the English Court
Records. Later, they, engaging in more discourse with the English,
became much wiser and understood the written word. Consideration
(value) for early deeds was minimal for large tracts of land,
because the Native People did not have a high regard for personal
property and no use for money. Early NA Deeds and conveyances
set large tracts of land in exchange for a suit of clothes, a
gun, or paltry sum of pounds sterling. After 1650, clothing and
trade axes became relatively easier to come by, and the consideration
was always current money.

Native American culture dictated that the accumulation
of material things was not consistent with a mobile society.

The second-generation deeds, many drafted closer
to the year 1700, represented “quitclaims” between
the settlers, (the grantees were often represented as “the
inhabitants of towns”) and the descendants of the ancient
tribal leaders (the grantors) who had at this point in time laid
claims to territories within the town boundaries. Later deeds
purport to be confirmations of transactions supposed to have
occurred at earlier dates, but closely examined, many of these
turn into an effort to meet a later political crisis. Some transactions
were never recorded or no copy has survived.

When King Charles II assumed the throne in
1685, he revoked the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s Charter.
He reclaimed New England as his own dominion and he would allow
the settlers to purchase the land they occupied from him. Most
notably, Sir Edmond Andros, assigned as Governor of the Dominion
of New England in 1686, in a great concern for his own plan,
sent people scurrying for these ‘confirmations’.
As they were trembling over the royal challenging of the Colony
Charter, the fall of which might render worthless all grants
of parcels of territory that required legislation under it.
At the same time, there was another concern for an impending
court claim by an heir from an earlier King’s Grant (Mason & Gorges)
that might void title to lands bought and recorded and requires
retribution to the plaintiff. Fearing this impending calamitous
situation, each existing coastal town (Andover and Haverhill
did not have second generation deeds) moved to take separate
action to negotiate a “quitclaim” deed with “known” descendents
of the ancient chiefs, now claiming title to the territories
inhabited by the colonists. These descendants according to the
deeds, and depositions supporting the legal claim to the lands,
were “found”
in the “praying towns of Natick and Wamesit (Chelmsford,
later called Lowell)”.

These later generation deeds were called “quit
claim deeds” (mostly negotiated between 1685 and 1700) were
drafted and recorded at the Courthouse, to extinguish all Native
rights to the land and more particularly to protect (for the
English) what they had. Review of these deeds demonstrates how
heavy emphasis Indian heirs and assigns placed on releasing any
and all claims. These deeds were recorded only in the Colonial
(English) Land System, were signed by descendants of the ancient
Indian sachems who held claim of original sovereign rights to
the soil. The later deeds were bounded differently from the earlier
deeds. Specifically, they are typically bounded by their present
reach of English occupation and inhabitation.

The third category of deeds
are those which are spread on our records which are related instruments,
such as Deeds recorded here but not physically within the bounds
of Essex County. We have a deed signed by a Sagamore called Robin
Hood for land in the Boothbay Harbor, Maine region, sold to an
Essex County merchant in 1655. There is a Deed recorded by Major
Robert Pike for land he acquired, which was in appreciation by
two Connecticut Nipmuck Sachems for defeating their arch-enemy
tribe. We also have found an instrument recorded
in 1649, wherein an “Indian”
is “ sold with his consent and mark” in exchange for
one-tenth interest in a boat. There are also two “Indentures”.
One deed is written that the grantor “ Indian appearing
in his right mind and sober at the time” (in other words,
the defensible position was that he was entering the transaction
not under duress or the influence of liquor).

The Mass. Bay Colony General Court passed a number
of “regulatory” acts between 1632 and 1675 regarding
land purchases with the Indians, ranging from outright refusal to
those only with the consent of the General Court. Many governing
rules are found on the Bodies of Liberty adopted by the Court in
1641. Additional laws regarding titles to Indian Lands were passed
again in 1701.

Until now, there has been very little awareness
of the 17th century Indian Deeds of Essex County. However, the NA
Deeds are very historically significant documents from two perspectives:
(1) they represent not the only but a set of rare written records
linking two cultures, at the time of permanent settlement of New
England; and (2) in 1687, they were as used legal evidence by the
Colonists to prove their right of ownership to the land, claimed
by King Charles as part of his dominion (the Dominion of New England),
when he revoked the Colony’s patent. This was one of the colonist’s
first outward expressions of independence from the Crown, ninety
years before the American Revolution. In 1692, a new Charter for
the Colony was issued by King William & Queen Mary, which, subsequently,
suppressed this fear.

In retrospect, an additional historically significant
observation comes from reviewing the early process of “
dispossession of America” of the original inhabitants,
as it happened in New England in the 17th Century. While Puritan
proponents argue that the Indians had become so depopulated
due to disease and so demoralized that they could not adapt
to English ways, that they had to become “wards of the
state”,
others take a much different view. Many writers have taken the
position that this period marks the beginning of a pattern of
oppression, fraud, deception and suppression of Native Americans
across this nation for almost 300 years. They further hold that
the formation of “Christian Towns” from 1650 –1700,
evolved into nothing less than a place of banishment analogous
to the same type of controlled “Indian Reservation”
that the “Horse Indians” (Great Plains and Western
States) found themselves. There are also many debates about
what Puritans legitimately intended when they set out to “Christianize
the savages”. Treatment of the Indians was an issue, which
split the Puritan gentry from the general congregation. The
gentry, however, used the Power of the General Court and the
Pulpit to set the policy for “dealing” with the
Indians.

It also interesting to have found depositions
from early Court records that confirm the legal chain of title for
Native lands claimed by the descendants of the Sagamores Masconomet
and George No Nose. Contained therein also are clues to the friendly
nature of these Native People.

The NA Deeds Collection creates an opportunity
to learn about who the Sagamores of the various tribes were in what
is now Essex County and subsequently who were their descendents.
Research has added information regarding their culture and their
lifestyles.

The genealogical evidence illustrates the “kinship”
alliances that existed within and beyond Essex County. The timelines
presented in this work highlight events, which occurred between
two conflicting cultures, which, excepting the Pequot War (1637)
was primarily non-hostile until 1675, when King Philip (Wampanoag)
led his revolution.
These “kinship” alliances became “defense”
alliance, but shifted following Indian Wars and as Massachusetts
Bay was populated by the English.

When the Massachusetts Federation crumbled following
Nanepashemet’s (Lynn Pawtucket) death in 1619, the largest
confederacy in southern New England became the Pennacooks, led by
Passaconaway. Around 1620, the Agawams (Ipswich Bay) and Pentuckets
(along the Merrimack River) allied with the Passaconaway. For the
next 50 years, this leader was the key to maintaining a peaceful
coexistence in the Mass. Bay Colony. There is much evidence of the
Great Sachem having a presence and influence in Essex County. Examples
include: it is recorded that Andover was conveyed by Sagamore Cutchemakin,
kinsman of Passaconaway implying that this land near his Pawtucket
headquarters (Pawtucket Falls /Wamesit, later Lowell); that the
Haverhill (Pentucket) Deed was done with the consent of Passaconaway;
that the Great Sachem would annually meet in Amesbury to “Pow
Wow” on top of Pow Wow Hill. His daughter was married to Sagamore
James (Lynn Pawtucket) son of Nanepashemet. The Tarrantines (Eastern
Abenaki of Maine) took her hostage in 1631, while Sagamore James
and Sagamore John were visiting their cousin, Masconomet, in Ipswich.

Geographic evidence of the Last of the “Pawtuckets”

Each of the NA Deeds in of themselves describes the geographic extent
of the title transfers. First generation deeds are wide and vague
in description certainly extending beyond Essex County’s present
boundaries. Second generation deeds are representations of a totally
frustrated and disintegrating society laying claims to ancient lands
as descendents of tribal chiefs. Seeking to reasonably satisfy the
claims, representatives of all of the coastal communities as well
as Bradford, Topsfield, Boxford and Wenham negotiated deeds for
the inhabitants of their respective towns as occupied. Other documents
in the NA Deeds Collection are relevant because they are found in
the
“ Norfolk Deeds” or the “Ipswich Deeds”.
That being the case, they include records beyond Essex County such
as Dover, or Hampton in New Hampshire. Two other Native American
deeds have been filed here, for lands Maine and Connecticut, because
the Grantees resided here at the time.

Not known to many, is the fact that when the four
first counties were formed in Mass. Bay Colony in 1643, one of them
was called Norfolk. This is a derivation of North Folk (Norfolk)
as compared to Eastern Sector (Essex), Middle Sector (Middlesex)
and Southern Folk (Suffolk).

It is ironic that the geography of the Pawtucket
Tribe with its subtribes of Naumkeag, Agawam and Pentucket overlaps
the present bounds of Essex County but also extended to the West
and to the South. The Pawtucket Tribal Territory included lands
which are today occupied by Chelsea, Winthrop, Revere, Boston’s
Deer Island, parts of Cambridge to the Charles River, Somerville,
Medford (Mystick), Malden, Everett, Melrose, Wakefield, Reading,
North Reading, Lynnfield, Winchester, Stoneham, to the West and
parts of Tewksbury and Lowell to the North, at the Merrimack River.

By the end of the 17th century the Native Americans
that resided in Essex County were very much removed from the landscape.
Only a few lived out their life in Essex County, while the descendents
of the Sagamores lived at Wamesit or Natick. Perhaps some removed
to the St. Francis Abenakis in Odank, Canada.